Jasper Republican, Volume 1, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 January 1875 — Fence-Planting on the Prairies. [ARTICLE]

Fence-Planting on the Prairies.

Thk erection of board fences on a prairie farm is an expensive operation. In Nebraska the law wisely removes the necessity for the herding of live stock; and in lowa the needs of practical farming life bring about very much the same result. But in each the law and the practice are the things of the day. It is an instinct in the owner of land to define his possessions by metes and bounds, obvious to the eye, which separate his land from that of his neighbor. If fences were not a convenience there would be no fences, therefore; but as fences are a convenience the improving prairie farmer sets himself to their creation as soon as his house is built and his land broken. Live fences, of course, are the desideratum, and there are three plants which are most in favor for the purpose. The honey locust, the Osage orange, and the white willow make good fences. The two former are impermeable to stock; and when the latter is well established the same character may be claimed for it. The white willow is also of rapid and hardy growth. Mr. C. B. Mendenhall, of Marshall County, lowa, has used the white willow extensively. On his farm there are about thirteen miles of white willow fencing, of from three to seven years’ growth, about half of which will turn cattle, and a portion cut half a cord of wood to the rod. Mr. Mendenhall has also a grove of white willow covering twenty acres, set out sjx years ago, and which he considers to be worth SSOO per acre. As, we doubt not, some of our readers are even now considering the question of moving West to lowa or Nebraska, and as knowledge is a light burden to carry, we give Mr. Mendenhall’s method of planting: The willow slips are to be eight inches in length, thrifty sprouts of one or two years’ growth. The ground for the hedgerow is to be plowed as deeply as possible during August, a dead furrow being left where it is proposed the fence shall stand. Just before frost comes the land is to be turned back, the dead furrow being filled in. As soon as the earth is open plant the slips eight inches apart, covering them with finelypulverized earth, Cultivate as corn for

two years, keeping the infant fence entirely clear of weeds. The following method will insure a rapid growth: Mulch well in the fall after the second year, placing the mulching as close to the plants as may l>e without touching the stems. By following Mr. Mendenhall’s plan the prairie farmer, with white willow, will have a thrifty fence in the course of three or four years, and in six years his inclosures will be perfect. —Albany Ledger.